Have the French now turned up?

[Robespierre]

A good win for Les Bleus, although Jacques Brunel will still have some doubts with some players. Picamoles, for example, has been first choice at 8 for a while now, but Aldritt has surely overtaken him on the evidence of the warm-up games. To my mind, Picamoles too often seeks to impose himself physically on the opposition and lacks the shrewdness of a modern day 8. At hooker, Camille Chat has come on leaps and bounds and may well displace Guirado, but who would be captain? Poirot was captain last night but had problems maintaining discipline among his players. Yoann Huget, like him or loathe him (I’m not his number one fan!), cemented his place in the first choice XV yesterday, he was very lively. I hope Cokanasiga flattens him when England meet France in the pool match!!

[strawclearer]

A good win for Les Bleus, although Jacques Brunel will still have some doubts with some players. Picamoles, for example, has been first choice at 8 for a while now, but Aldritt has surely overtaken him on the evidence of the warm-up games. To my mind, Picamoles too often seeks to impose himself physically on the opposition and lacks the shrewdness of a modern day 8. At hooker, Camille Chat has come on leaps and bounds and may well displace Guirado, but who would be captain? Poirot was captain last night but had problems maintaining discipline among his players. Yoann Huget, like him or loathe him (I’m not his number one fan!), cemented his place in the first choice XV yesterday, he was very lively. I hope Cokanasiga flattens him when England meet France in the pool match!!

[my bold]

[Robespierre]

Picamoles and Guirado have now announced that they've played their last match for Les Bleus in France!
https://www.rugbyrama.fr/rugby/test-mat ... tory.shtml
They'll surely be going to Japan but whether they'll be first choice - as I wrote in my post above, is far from certain.

[JP14]

Poirot is a good player and leader, who doesn’t love seeing a prop captain and lets be honest, the Lord Jesus Alun Wyn Jones can’t control his teams’ discipline either.

[Robespierre]

Here's the list of players heading for Japan, with no real surprises. There are some classy players here and I wouldn't be surprised if they made the semi-finals. My only doubt is at fly half. Camille Lopez doesn't exactly fill me with confidence and although young Romain Ntamack (20, I think) is a gifted player, he's not got much experience at the top level. Perhaps the World Cup will be the making of him. However, as mentioned earlier in this thread, Toulon's Louis Carbonel will surely be in the mix come the 6 Nations.

Hookers:
Camille Chat (Racing 92) - 22 sélections
Guilhem Guirado (MHR) - 70 sélections
Peato Mauvaka (Stade Toulousain) - 1 sélection
Props :
Cyril Baille (Stade Toulousain) - 13 sélections
Demba Bamba (LOU) - 6 sélections
Jefferson Poirot (UBB) - 29 sélections
Emerick Setiano (RCT) - 3 sélections
Rabah Slimani (ASM) - 53 sélections
2nd row :
Paul Gabrillagues (Stade Français) - 13 sélections
Sébastien Vahaamahina (ASM) - 42 sélections
Bernard le Roux (Racing 92) - 33 sélections
Backrow :
Grégory Alldritt (La Rochelle) - 7 sélections
Yacouba Camara (MHR) - 15 sélections
Arthur Iturria (ASM) - 13 sélections
Wenceslas Lauret (Racing 92) - 24 sélections
Charles Ollivon (RCT) - 8 sélections
Louis Picamoles (MHR) - 79 sélections
Scrum halves:
Antoine Dupont (Stade Toulousain) - 17 sélections
Maxime Machenaud (Racing 92) - 36 sélections
Baptiste Serin (RCT) - 30 sélections
Fly halves :
Camille Lopez (ASM) - 24 sélections
Romain Ntamack (Stade Toulousain) - 8 sélections
Centres :
Gaël Fickou (Stade Français) - 48 sélections
Wesley Fofana (ASM) - 48 sélections
Sofiane Guitoune (Stade Toulousain) - 7 sélections
Virimi Vakatawa (Racing 92) - 18 sélections
Wings/fullbacks :
Yoann Huget (Stade Toulousain) - 59 sélections
Maxime Médard (Stade Toulousain) - 59 sélections
Damian Penaud (ASM) - 13 sélections
Alivereti Raka (ASM) - 2 sélections
Thomas Ramos (Stade Toulousain) - 7 sélections

[JP14]

Priso unlucky, Robespierre?

[JP14]

My ideal French team would be

1 Poirot
2 Chat
3 Slimani
4 Vahaamahina
5 Itturia
6 Lauret
7 Camara
8 Picomoles
9 Dupont
10 Lopez
11 Raka
12 Fofana
13 Vakatawa
14 Penaud
15 Medard

Some team especially that midfield!

[Leicestertinytiger]

My ideal French team would be

1 Poirot
2 Chat
3 Slimani
4 Vahaamahina
5 Itturia
6 Lauret
7 Camara
8 Picomoles
9 Dupont
10 Lopez
11 Raka
12 Fofana
13 Vakatawa
14 Penaud
15 Medard

Some team especially that midfield!

Good looking team that. Would have Ramos at 15 as he gives a bit more stability in the back field. Could see them causing an upset if they get through to the knockouts. Going to be close between them and Argentina, can’t decide who will win.

[Robespierre]

Priso unlucky, Robespierre?

Apparently, it was a toss up between Priso and Baille, but the latter’s scrummaging gave him the nod.